A Dutch court convicted populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders of hate speech Friday at the end of a trial he branded a politically motivated “charade” that endangered freedom of speech.

Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said the court would not impose a sentence because the conviction was punishment enough for a democratically elected lawmaker. Prosecutors had asked judges to fine him 5,000 euros ($5,300).

In a tweet, Wilders called the verdicts “madness” and said that he had been convicted by three judges who hated his Party for Freedom.

Wilders was not in court for the verdict that came just over three months before national elections. Wilders’ party is currently narrowly leading a nationwide poll of polls and has risen in popularity during the trial.

Even before the hearing, Wilders vowed not to let a conviction muzzle him.

“Whatever the verdict, I will continue to speak the truth about the Moroccan problem, and no judge, politician or terrorist will stop me,” he tweeted shortly before the verdict.

He had denied the charges and insisted he was performing his duty as a political leader by pointing out a problem in society.

Before declaring Wilders guilty, Steenhuis stressed that freedom of speech was not on trial as Wilders had claimed during the case.

“Freedom of speech is one of the foundations of our democratic society,” the judge said. But he added: “Freedom of speech can be limited, for example to protect the rights and freedoms of others, and that is what this case is about.”

The politically charged prosecution centered on comments Wilders made before and after the Dutch municipal elections in 2014. At one meeting in a Hague cafe, he asked supporters whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands. That sparked a chant of “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!” — to which he replied, “we’ll take care of it.”

Prosecutors say that Wilders, who in 2011 was acquitted at another hate speech trial for his outspoken criticism of Islam, overstepped the limits of free speech by specifically targeting Moroccans.

On Friday, he was convicted for the interaction with the crowd of supporters in the Hague cafe, which judges said was carefully orchestrated and broadcast on national television. He was acquitted for similar comments he made in a radio interview a week earlier.

It is beyond belief that saying "We want fewer Moroccans in our country" can even get you into court.

I wonder if anyone in Holland were to say we want fewer English/French/German people he would get the same treatment.... I think people may agree or not, but it would never get to being a "case" about anything. So it is a crime to want Netherlands which are broadly, well, DUTCH.... and not as such "Dutch" MOROCCAN...

I think it is a good thing though, in a way, that this has happened, because it will strengthen his support.

I wonder if ever the Netherlands were to get a Moroccan prime minister, if he would as considerate of the feelings of the original Dutch people ... (Yes, of course, it would naturally be a "he", a woman Muslim leader is not allowed...)

The BBC seems to be getting worked up about The Netherlands. As I went to bed last night, BBC2's Newsnight was going on about how tolerant the country used to be and how it is no longer, They featured a hijabi woman of uncertain origin who was setting up some sort of new multicultural political party. They also went on at length about how their tolerant society suffered under the Nazis but now... well, I went to bed before they could get round to explicitly saying the Dutch were all Nazis now.

As I got up this morning, the BBC's World Service was also going on about The Netherlands. They featured another hijabi (so they said), a Moroccan woman complaining that the Dutch favoured their own culture. "What culture?", she asked. She said that she lived in Amsterdam where 800 (IIRC) languages are spoken. "I see no Dutch culture" she said.

The interviewer, of course, failed to make the obvious response to this remark, which would have been something like "Exactly, that's what's upsetting the Dutch: their culture is vanishing before their eyes". As with Brexit, the BBC "just doesn't get it".A poor start to my day.

'It's a choice between the MONSTERS and the MANIACS'Dr Julian Lewis M.P. (Chair, UK Defense Committee) on the conflict in Syria

ANKARA/ROTTERDAM, March 12 (Reuters) - Turkey told the Netherlands on Sunday that it would retaliate in the "harshest ways" after Turkish ministers were barred from speaking in Rotterdam in a row over Ankara's political campaigning among Turkish emigres.

President Tayyip Erdogan had branded its fellow NATO member a "Nazi remnant" and the dispute escalated into a diplomatic incident on Saturday evening, when Turkey's family minister was prevented by police from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.

Hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags gathered outside, demanding to see the minister.

Dutch police used dogs and water cannon early on Sunday to disperse the crowd, which threw bottles and stones. Several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. They carried out charges on horseback, while officers advanced on foot with shields and armored vans.

Less than a day after Dutch authorities prevented Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam, Turkey's family minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, said on Twitter she was being escorted back to Germany.

"The world must take a stance in the name of democracy against this fascist act! This behavior against a female minister can never be accepted," she said. The Rotterdam mayor confirmed she was being escorted by police to the German border.

Kaya later boarded a private plane from the German town of Cologne to return to Istanbul, mass-circulating newspaper Hurriyet said on Sunday.

The Dutch government, which stands to lose heavily to the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders in elections next week, said it considered the visits undesirable and "the Netherlands could not cooperate in the public political campaigning of Turkish ministers in the Netherlands."

The government said it saw the potential to import divisions into its own Turkish minority, which has both pro- and anti-Erdogan camps. Dutch politicians across the spectrum said they supported Prime Minister Mark Rutte's decision to ban the visits.

In a statement issued early on Sunday, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey had told Dutch authorities it would retaliate in the "harshest ways" and "respond in kind to this unacceptable behavior."

Turkey's foreign ministry said it did not want the Dutch ambassador to Ankara to return from leave "for some time." Turkish authorities sealed off the Dutch embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul in apparent retaliation and hundreds gathered there for protests at the Dutch action.

Erdogan is looking to the large number of emigre Turks living in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, to help clinch victory next month in a referendum that would give the presidency sweeping new powers.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will do everything possible to prevent Turkish political tensions spilling onto German soil. Four rallies in Austria and one in Switzerland have been canceled due to the growing dispute.

Erdogan has cited domestic threats from Kurdish and Islamist militants and a July coup bid as cause to vote "yes" to his new powers. But he has also drawn on the emotionally charged row with Europe to portray Turkey as betrayed by allies while facing wars on its southern borders.

The Dutch government had banned Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from attending a rally on Saturday in Rotterdam but he said he would fly there anyway, saying Europe must be rid of its "boss-like attitude."

Cavusoglu, who was barred from a similar meeting in Hamburg last week but spoke instead from the Turkish consulate, accused the Dutch of treating the many Turkish citizens in the country like hostages, cutting them off from Ankara.

"If my going will increase tensions, let it be ... I am a foreign minister and I can go wherever I want," he added hours before his planned flight to Rotterdam was banned.

SANCTIONS THREAT

Cavusoglu threatened harsh economic and political sanctions if the Dutch refused him entry, and those threats proved decisive for the Netherlands government.

It cited public order and security concerns in withdrawing landing rights for Cavusoglu's flight and said the threat of sanctions made the search for a reasonable solution impossible.

"This decision is a scandal and unacceptable in every way. It does not abide by diplomatic practices," Cavusoglu told reporters in Istanbul on Saturday evening.

Dutch anti-Muslim politician Wilders, polling second ahead of Wednesday's elections, said in a tweet on Saturday: "To all Turks in the Netherlands who agree with Erdogan: Go to Turkey and NEVER come back!!"

Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said: "This morning on TV (the Turkish minister) made clear he was threatening the Netherlands with sanctions and we can never negotiate with the Turks under such threats. So we decided ... in a conference call it was better for him not to come."

'NAZI REMNANTS, FASCISTS'

Addressing a rally of supporters, Erdogan retaliated against the decision to prevent the Turkish foreign minister from visiting Rotterdam.

"Listen Netherlands, you'll jump once, you'll jump twice, but my people will thwart your game," he said. "You can cancel our foreign minister's flight as much as you want, but let's see how your flights will come to Turkey now."

"They don't know diplomacy or politics. They are Nazi remnants. They are fascists," he said.

Rutte called Erdogan's reference to Nazis and Fascists "a crazy remark." He added: "I understand they're angry but this is of course way out of line."

Erdogan chafes at Western criticism of his mass arrests and dismissals of people authorities believe were linked to a failed July attempt by the military to topple him.

He maintains it is clear the West begrudges him new powers and seeks to engineer a "no" vote in the referendum.

Barred from the Netherlands, Cavusoglu arrived in France on Saturday ahead of a planned speech to Turkish emigres in the northeastern city of Metz on Sunday, a Reuters witness said. Earlier, an official at the Moselle regional prefecture told Reuters there were currently no plans to prevent the meeting from going ahead.

A member of the Union of European Turkish Democrats also said on Saturday via a Facebook post that the Turkish foreign minister would no longer come to Switzerland for a planned event on Sunday after failing to find a suitable venue.

Zurich's security department, which had unsuccessfully lobbied the federal government in Bern to ban Cavusoglu's appearance, said in a statement on Saturday evening it was relieved the event had been canceled. (Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Writing by Ralph Boulton and Daren Butler; Editing by David Clarke and Simon Cameron-Moore)

Go Netherland Go.... .Do not practice appeasement. Learn to respect the existence of freedom of speech in your country, so it remains that way forever...

The great Islam has Greater Hidden Facts. To know them all, please, make yourself familiar with the provided site link.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said a Dutch ban on his foreign minister's visit was like Nazism, as tensions rocketed over rallies abroad to help Ankara gain backing for a key vote.

His comments came after the Netherlands said it would refuse Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu permission to land for a rally to gather support for a referendum on boosting Erdogan's powers.

The Dutch decision to ban Cavusoglu from visiting and holding a rally in the port city of Rotterdam came after Germany and other European nations also blocked similar campaign events.

Unlike in Germany, where a string of planned rallies were barred by local authorities, in the Netherlands it was the government that stepped in to block Cavusoglu's visit.

"They are the vestiges of the Nazis, they are fascists," Erdogan told an Istanbul rally Saturday, days after he angrily compared moves to block rallies in Germany to "Nazi practices".

"Ban our foreign minister from flying however much you like, but from now on let's see how your flights will land in Turkey," Erdogan said.

Turkey promised to avoid the flight ban and send another minister to Rotterdam "by land", while Cavusoglu flew to France where he is expected to address a rally Sunday in the eastern city of Metz.

A French official said the visit had been cleared by the foreign ministry in Paris, while a French diplomatic source said the go-ahead was in line with the principle of freedom to hold public gatherings.

As the row raged, Turkish foreign ministry sources said the Dutch embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul had both been sealed off for "security reasons".

- 'Crazy' comments -

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Erdogan's criticism was "crazy."

"I understand that they are angry but this is way out of line," he said. "I really think we made the right decision here."

Cavusoglu, speaking in Istanbul, said the ban was "unacceptable".

"Why are you taking sides in the referendum?" he said, adding: "Is the foreign minister of Turkey a terrorist?"

The Turkish foreign ministry said the Dutch charge d'affaires in Ankara was summoned and told that Turkey did not want the Dutch ambassador -- currently on holiday -- to return "for a while".

Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported that the Turkish family and social policies minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya would go to Rotterdam "by land" from Duesseldorf in Germany, citing her ministry as a source.

The Netherlands is home to some 400,000 people of Turkish origin, and Ankara is keen to harness votes of the diaspora in Europe ahead of the April 16 referendum on creating an executive presidency.

The Turkish government argues the changes would ensure stability and create more efficient governance but opponents say it would lead to one-man rule and further inflame tensions in its diverse society.

Erdogan accused the Netherlands of working against the "Yes" campaign and said: "Pressure however much you like. Abet terrorists in your country however much you like.

"It will backlash, and there's no doubt that we'll start retaliating after April 16... We are patient. Whoever is patient will reach victory."

- Turkish diaspora -

Dutch far-right anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders celebrated the government's ban, attributing it to "heavy PVV pressure", in a reference to his party, which appears set to emerge as one of the largest in elections to the Dutch parliament on Wednesday.

The latest row came after NATO allies Turkey and Germany sparred over the cancellation of a series of referendum campaign events there.

Germany is home to 1.4 million people eligible to vote in Turkey -- the fourth-largest electoral base after Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Although Berlin insisted that the string of cancellations by local authorities were down to logistical reasons, Turkish officials repeatedly hit back, leading to Erdogan's angry "Nazi" remark.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said such rhetoric was "depressing", belittled Holocaust victims and was "so out of place as to be unworthy of serious comment".

Berlin has emerged as a strident critic of Ankara's crackdown after an attempted coup last July, which has seen more than 100,000 people arrested, suspended from their jobs or sacked for alleged links to the plotters or to Kurdish militants.

The great Islam has Greater Hidden Facts. To know them all, please, make yourself familiar with the provided site link.

Law of unintended consequences. According to a programme I heard, the Dutch establishment was worried that the the presence of the Turkish ambassador at the rally might provide ammunition for Geert Wilders just before the election. Hence the ban.So now they have riots instead: the ammunition's just gone nuclear.

'It's a choice between the MONSTERS and the MANIACS'Dr Julian Lewis M.P. (Chair, UK Defense Committee) on the conflict in Syria

As the Dutch election approaches, the BBC is sharpening its knives. The latest, heard while I was doing the washing-up, was a World Service account of the debate between Geert Wilders and Prime Minister Rutte. Wilders was given a voice-over translation by a man with a scratchy, heavily accented "ve have vays of making you talk" kind of voice but then they changed for the PM to a soft-spoken woman with an accent much nearer an English one.I suppose they thought they were being subtle.EDITWhile I was checking the spelling of the PM's name, I came across this:

The position of the Prime Minister has been enforced by the creation of the European Council.

Although Wilders Freedom Party gained five extra seats , it feels we lost. I do not know how that happened, but it did. However, Geert Wilders still wants his party to be part of talks on a new coalition government in the Netherlands, It won't happen though. Not one party wants to work with Wilders.

Rutte told reporters that he wants a stable majority cabinet that includes the Christian Democrats and the centrist, pro-European Union D66 party. The three have 71 seats between them. The rest of the seats will probably come from the green party Groen Links.

Police in Spain tipped off police in the Netherlands, and the concert was called off. The Barcelona vehicular jihadis had a massive number of gas canisters, but they blew up their own house by mistake and opted for vehicular jihad instead. And the name of this band is “Islamophobic.” It is clear that this concert has been canceled not because of poor reviews, or “right-wing extremists,” but because of yet more jihad in Europe.

A ROCK concert in Rotterdam has been cancelled over a terror threat as cops swooped on a bus “packed with gas canisters”.

US band Allah-Las were due to play in the Dutch city this evening.

But the gig has been cancelled after police arrested a bus driver following a tip-off from Spanish police.

Anti-terror cops wearing bullet-proof vests evacuated the venue this evening and the concert was cancelled due to a potential “terror threat”.

The band said in a statement: “In response to the police, we are forced to cancel the concert of Allah-Las tonight in the Maassilo….

The band chose to use Allah – Arabic for god – because they wanted something “holy sounding”.

But last year they revealed they had received complaints over the religious reference.

They once had a concert in Turkey cancelled because the promoter didn’t feel comfortable with their name.

It is not known if this is the reason why their Rotterdam gig was called off at the last minute.

Lead singer Miles Michaud told The Guardian: “We get emails from Muslims, here in the US and around the world, saying they’re offended, but that absolutely wasn’t our intention….

No problem. There was no jihad in Rotterdam, and the white van had nothing to do with Islam . That was what we learned when we woke up this morning. It was in all newspapers, so it must be true. Although....Let me think. how great is the chance that yesterday afternoon the Spanish police tips of the Dutch police about a terror threat in Rotterdam .

Spoiler! :

And than at 9 in the evening, a guy in a white Renault Kangoo with a Spanish number plate drives back and forth in the street of the concert hall. The police stoped the car , and the police find out that the van is filled with gas canisters.

Anyway...According to Spanish media, quoting Spanish police sources, the driver of the van was drunk and had no links to jihadi terrorism. The gas bottles were clearly for domestic use, Spanish news agency Europa Press said.

How come why we don't believe the press or even the police any more. I will tell you why. Many people in Holland believe that lots of "incidents " are kept under wraps.

Like this "incident" in Amsterdam during ramadan. Eight people were injured in a "car incident" outside Amsterdam’ main railway station

Police confirmed that the action was not deliberate and a detailed investigation has turned up no indications that the driver, a 45-year-old Amsterdammer, meant to hit people when he pulled away from police after being asked to move his car. According to the AD, the man claims to remember nothing of the incident. He had not been drinking, the paper said. The man did, however, have a low blood sugar level and was taking medicine, which could explain the apparent black-out.

No name was given, and they told us that non of the 15 surveillance cameras around the station were working , and that the "incident" had nothing to do with Islam.

Witness stories were different. They told us, the man deliberate drove into the tourist on a car free zone

2 days ago, a policeman leaked the name of the Amsterdammer. His name is KHALID KARMAOUI and he is from Morocco. The police is furious that his name is is in the open now, and they are investing the leak.

And that is only one of the incidents . If people are being stabbed in a train, it is always a confused man who did it. According to the police.

Sigrid Kaag, who is married to a senior PLO official, will head up aid efforts, including in the West Bank

Sigrid Kaag’s nomination to the position — the second-most powerful cabinet post at the Dutch foreign ministry — will be formalized in the coming days following the signing of a coalition deal between the ruling People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and three other partners, including her left-wing D66 party, the NOS public broadcaster reported Friday.

The wife of PLO politician Anis al-Qaq, a deputy minister under Yasser Arafat in the 1990s and a Palestinian Authority ambassador to Switzerland – Kaag has worked for the United Nations UNRWA agency for relief for Palestinians.

As minister for aid, Kaag will not be directly responsible for the foreign relations of her country, which is one of Israel’s strongest allies within the European Union. But she will be responsible for implementing aid projects in the West Bank — including ones considered illegal by Israel, and which have led to friction between the Jewish state and the Netherlands. The Netherlands’ next foreign minister will be the ruling party’s Halbe Zijlstra, whom pro-Palestinian activists in the Netherlands described as “very pro-Israel.”

In 2015, Zijlstra wrote an op-ed for the NRC Handelsblad daily in which he criticized the US-led international deal with Iran as “a historical error.” The deal, in which Iran got relief from international sanctions in exchange for agreeing to scale back its nuclear program for 10 years, “strengthens the anti-Western regime in Tehran, creates instability in the Middle East and gives Iran the slack necessary to develop a nuclear bomb,” Zijlstra wrote.

The European Union, where the Netherlands is a founding member, supports the deal, which President Donald Trump said last week that he would not certify.

In an interview from 1996, Kaag said that Benjamin Netanyahu, who was that year elected prime minister for the first time, does not represent peace-seeking Israelis.

“They are absolutely not represented by Netanyahu,” Kaag said of that group of Israelis. After the interviewer reminded her that Netanyahu was democratically elected, she said: “Yeah, well, by a very small margin and only because of special elections rules.” Netanyahu won the 1996 vote with a one-percent edge over Shimon Peres.

Kaag in the interview called settlers “illegal colonists on confiscated land.” She also said that settlers called her “whore of the Arabs.”

She also said in that interview that her father-in-law was in 1995 stabbed on the Jerusalem promenade by a Jew wearing an Arab keffiyeh – a claim that was later contested by critics who said Israeli police records show no record of such an incident that year.

“Netanyahu’s way is of soundbites with racist, demagogic overtones about the Palestinian peace partner, his Arab peace partner, who are being sidelined,” added Kaag.

Fernando wrote:Why is the woman wearing a hijab yet still waving all those strands of enticing hair at all and sundry? Is she begging to be molested? Or just a wicked temptress? Or perhaps desperate, even?

Still not convincing, with her goldilocks clearly visible. I know Western politicians often pay lip service by half-veiling but when she's married to a Muslim she should either ignore it or go the whole hog rather than lay herself open to charges of hypocrisy from both sides.

'It's a choice between the MONSTERS and the MANIACS'Dr Julian Lewis M.P. (Chair, UK Defense Committee) on the conflict in Syria